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- Tasks: Lead the development of innovative AI-powered software solutions and drive engineering excellence.
- Company: Join GitHub, a leader in shaping the future of software development.
- Benefits: Remote work, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Diverse and inclusive workplace with excellent career advancement opportunities.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on millions of developers with cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: Extensive software engineering experience and strong leadership skills required.
The predicted salary is between 90000 - 120000 £ per year.
GitHub is shaping the future of software development in the age of AI agents — and search is at the heart of it. As GitHub's lexical and semantic code search engine, Blackbird powers context retrieval for business‑critical experiences across the platform and our Copilot products, including Cloud Agent, Code Review, Copilot CLI, and VS Code.
We're looking for a Principal Engineering Manager to lead the development of Blackbird. You'll be part of our Copilot Agents organization, positively impacting millions of software developers and AI agents around the world who are building everything from open source to global enterprises.
Responsibilities
- Drive and execute technical roadmap that aligns with product goals, ensuring engineering efforts are strategically prioritized and incorporate new technologies and methodologies where applicable.
- Work with organizational leaders to shape GitHub’s AI product portfolio, identifying opportunities for innovation and leading initiatives that scale globally.
- Drive employee growth and development, manage performance, and ensure the engineering team's skills remain current by staying abreast of industry developments and best practices.
- Own incident response and reliability practices, ensuring live services meet SLOs and postmortems drive systemic improvements; oversee capacity planning to ensure performance, reliability, and compliance.
- Champion experimentation and telemetry‑driven development, enabling rapid iteration and data‑informed decisions.
- Identify novel bottlenecks in AI‑powered development workflows to improve team and organizational impact.
- Drive engineering excellence through automation, tooling, and standardization across deployment, testing, and operations; facilitate cross‑team communications, identify dependencies, and resolve conflicts to ensure seamless integration and support across products, applications, and services.
- Partner with stakeholders such as product managers and technical leads to determine requirements for services or complex scenarios, leveraging feedback channels to incorporate insights into future designs.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications:
- 11+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python.
- OR Associate’s Degree in a related field and 10+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python.
- OR Bachelor's Degree in a related field and 9+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python.
- OR Master's Degree in a related field and 7+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python.
- OR PhD in a related field and 5+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software in languages such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python.
- OR equivalent experience.
- 5+ years of people management experience.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience building or operating web‑scale search, information retrieval, or context retrieval systems.
- Expertise with systems programming languages, ideally Rust.
- Proven track record of building and scaling engineering organizations in high‑growth or ambiguous environments.
- Experience designing or integrating AI/ML‑powered features into production systems.
GitHub is made up of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and lifestyles. We embrace diversity and invite applications from people of all walks of life. We don't discriminate against employees or applicants based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, pregnancy status, veteran status, or any other differences. Also, if you have a disability, please let us know if there's any way we can make the interview process better for you; we're happy to accommodate!
Principal Software Engineering Manager in London employer: GitHub, Inc.
Contact Detail:
GitHub, Inc. Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Software Engineering Manager in London
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to folks in your industry on LinkedIn or at meetups. A personal connection can often get you a foot in the door faster than a CV.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for those interviews! Research GitHub's products and think about how your experience aligns with their goals. Show them you’re not just another candidate, but someone who gets their mission.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice makes perfect! Do mock interviews with friends or use online platforms. The more comfortable you are talking about your skills and experiences, the better you'll perform.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in being part of the team.
We think you need these skills to ace Principal Software Engineering Manager in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV reflects the skills and experiences that align with the Principal Software Engineering Manager role. Highlight your experience in software engineering, especially in languages mentioned in the job description, and showcase any leadership roles you've held.
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to tell us why you're the perfect fit for this role. Share your passion for AI and software development, and explain how your background aligns with our mission at GitHub. Be genuine and let your personality shine through!
Showcase Your Achievements: When detailing your past experiences, focus on specific achievements that demonstrate your impact. Use metrics where possible to quantify your contributions, whether it's improving system performance or leading successful projects.
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply directly through our website. This ensures your application gets to the right people quickly. Plus, it’s a great way to explore more about our culture and values while you’re at it!
How to prepare for a job interview at GitHub, Inc.
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
Make sure you’re well-versed in the programming languages mentioned in the job description, like C++, Java, and Python. Brush up on your knowledge of AI/ML systems and be ready to discuss how you've applied these technologies in past projects.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
As a Principal Engineering Manager, you'll need to demonstrate your people management experience. Prepare examples of how you've driven team growth, managed performance, and fostered a culture of innovation in your previous roles.
✨Prepare for Technical Challenges
Expect technical questions that assess your problem-solving skills and understanding of software development processes. Practice coding challenges or system design scenarios that relate to building scalable systems or search engines.
✨Align with Company Goals
Research GitHub’s AI product portfolio and think about how your vision aligns with their goals. Be ready to discuss how you can contribute to their mission of shaping the future of software development and driving innovation.